Sharon first approached me after the Christmas Eve Service at First Baptist Orlando. She said that God had laid it on her heart to serve young people at Frontline. She followed up with me in the beginning of the year and soon began tutoring and administering the tests for young people and parents without high school diplomas. Sharon was a beacon of light as she administered the GED testing at Frontline Outreach from 2000 to 2005.
In her five years of service, Sharon shared God's love verbally and through example. She became more than a volunteer; she became a member of the Frontline team. Even as her body began to fail and her days of coming into Frontline ended, her support for our children remained. Sharon's indomitable will kept her engaged as a donor, and a constant encourager via email and through prayer. Her commitment was unwavering.
Then as quickly as she entered my life, she left January 2010. The legacy she left for me and the Frontline team is indelible. First, she taught us how to serve beyond our excuses and infirmities. Second, we learned that when passion and commitment are combined, the world can be changed. Finally, for all volunteers she showed that when you are called by God to serve your call is just as important as the people on the paid team.
Sharon embodies 2 Corinthians 3:5 when paraphrased states: we are not qualified to do anything, our qualification comes from God. Sharon lived, moved, and operated in God’s strength. This drew people to her and inspired them to know what motivated her to come in the inner city and serve young people that others had long forgotten.
In a world filled with cliches and image conscious people, Sharon was a real person who faced adversity and served as an inspiration through her service. The poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley is reminder of her inner strength.
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Sharon Bobik, one of Orlando’s Great Souls and friend of urban children at Frontline Outreach, will always be remembered and loved.
To learn more about serving and giving at Frontline email volunteering@fl-o.org, visit the Frontline website click Partner with Us, or call (407) 293-3000. We need you and all our friends to help to equip the next generation of leaders and cover the great opportunities of 2010.
